Market Outlook With Randy Blach, Cattle-Fax

A few weeks ago, I attended Cargill's "Starting Strong" Seminar in Brookings, S.D. where I had the opportunity to listen to a market outlook and trends update from Randy Blach of Cattle-Fax. He discussed beef supply and demand, an update on the recession, predictions for corn prices, tips to manage risk and creating a market plan. Listen to what Randy had to say about the current state of the beef industry in my interview with him below.

"It's important to understand why our industry is getting gored. Per capita net beef supply has dramatically dropped in the economic recession. We are back to the low demand levels of the late 1990's. Chaos in the financial markets and increased unemployment rates and a down economy have made a tough scenario. There will be a correction in the upcoming months, but it may be a slow recovery." -Randy Blach on the recession.

"Be honest with yourself--is doing nothing at all working? Just take the first step to working in the futures. How many of you are taking advantage of the optimism in the industry right now by locking in prices for October-December? I think there is a great opportunity to make money in this business, if it's done right." -Blach on using the futures market to hedge a profit.

BEEF Daily Quick Fact: Cattle consume less than 2/10ths of 1% of all water used in the United States.